


Like A Cruel Dream

by grapeflavoredorange



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Major P5R Spoilers, Third Semester, Underage Smoking, akira is having none of akechi's shit, bad boy akira, but i'm keeping this as gen as possible, there's some pegoryu if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26456956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapeflavoredorange/pseuds/grapeflavoredorange
Summary: "Wait, how do we know each other, anyhow?"Akira goes to find Ryuji in the actualized reality.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist & Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji, if you squint
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Like A Cruel Dream

January 8th, 2017 

Akira felt like shit. 

Running around Tokyo and watching his friends have fun in the fake reality created by Maruki wasn’t exactly what he planned for his winter break. He pictured himself quietly celebrating Christmas and the victory over Yaldabaoth with the other Thieves at Leblanc, helping Sojiro, playing games with Futaba, watching old animes with Ryuji, and sleeping in while it snowed outside. Instead, Akria was doing the same thing every day; wake up early, find one of the Thieves somewhere in Tokyo, try to snap them out of their false happiness, watch them walk off looking slightly disturbed, smoke, go home and spend the rest of the day in bed, and repeat. He’d promised Ryuji that he’d try to break the habit, but…

Right. Ryuji. That’s who Akira was going to see today. He had been saving him for last, hoping desperately that he would come to his senses by himself, but there he was in front of the Shujin school gates, talking and laughing with Nakaoka and Takeishi, the members of the track team he had been closest to. Akira could hear their conversation as he approached them, dread building up inside him.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you mean you got scouted by that college?!”

“Pipe down, stupid! It’s not sure or nothin’ yet, anyways. I’m just sayin’ the school’s gotten word of somethin’ like that.”

“Still, that rules! You even made it to the top of the podium at nationals too!”

Akira felt his heart drop. Of course Ryuji’s ideal reality would be laughing happily with the other members of the track team. He felt stupid for not expecting something like that. _It doesn’t matter,_ Akira thought to himself. _He’ll snap out of it soon… I know he will._

He approached them quickly, hoping to get it over with quickly. “Oh, hey Akira!” Ryuji exclaimed, smiling. His smile looked genuine. Akira didn’t want to, but he hated it. _It’s not real,_ he reminded himself. “What’re you doin’ here?” Ryuji asked. “It’s still winter break.” He opened his mouth to reply, but Nakaoka interrupted him and slapped Ryuji’s back. “Oh, maybe he’s just here to congratulate you!” he said, grinning. Akira shook his head and tried to speak again, but he was interrupted again, this time by Takeishi. “Man, someone sure is popular! Is there anywhere you wanna go out to eat after practice? It’s our treat today!” 

Ryuji’s smile grew. “Ooh! That’s nice of you guys, how about an extra large beef bowl with some pork and miso soup?!” He turned to Akira, who had given up on trying to interject. “Hey, why don’t you come with us, ‘Kira?” 

The use of his nickname caused Akira to snap out of his reverie. “Me?” he asked, not taking his hands out of his pockets. It was cold. Ryuji continued grinning. “Yeah, you! We’re best friends, ain’t we?” 

Akira smiled sadly. “Are you enjoying the return to track?” he asked. As much as he wanted to spend the rest of the day with Ryuji instead of in his bed feeling like shit, he knew what he had to do. Ryuji was the last of his teammates he had to rescue from this blissful hell, and then tomorrow he would go back to Odaiba and rescue Sumire. Whether or not the other Thieves would be with him, though, was unknown. Akira shook his head. He had to focus. 

Ryuji looked confused. “What? I mean, it’s fun, but whaddya mean?” He scratched the back of his head, thought for a moment, then smiled again. “It’s just what I like doin’, y’know? I get all down when I’m not runnin’.” Akira stared at him, thinking of what to say next. Ryuji’s smile didn’t quite meet his eyes. “So, your leg is fine now?” Akira finally asked. 

Ryuji’s expression changed back to confusion. “My leg?” he asked. Akira nodded. Ryuji still looked puzzled, but then finally started grinning again. “Oh, you’re worried about me? It’s totally fine, dude!” He placed a hand on Akira’s shoulder, and he felt his heart break a little at the happiness in his friend’s eyes. “No problems there since that injury a while back, and it was Kamoshida’s fault anyway, so…” He suddenly stopped. Akira felt a tiny jolt of excitement, thinking that maybe Ryuji was finally starting to get it. His hand slowly left Akira’s shoulder as Ryuji zoned out, obviously thinking hard. Akira noticed Nakaoka and Takeishi starting to look worried. 

“Ain’t somethin’ wrong here?” Ryuji finally asked. Akira raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?” Ryuji shook his head, and Akira felt more hopeful that his friend was beginning to come to his senses, that maybe, just maybe, he would find a way out of the mirage in front of him that-

“How do we know each other, anyhow?”

Akira felt his heart shatter.

Ryuji was shaking his head, staring at the ground. He was still talking, but his words sounded distant and far away, like he was talking to Akira on the phone and their connection was spotty. Even the others had at least remembered how they had met, but Ryuji… “First we met at the station by school, then…” 

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he raised his head to face Akira. “Whoa… the hell was that?” he asked. Nakaoka placed a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder. “You okay, Sakamoto?” he asked. Ryuji nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but Takeishi interrupted him, like he had done to Akira. “Yeah, and what happened to you guys at the station?” Akira wanted to answer him, but he knew he shouldn’t. Ryuji shook his head. “It’s nothin’,” he said hurriedly, then turning to Akira. “Sorry, I gotta get back to practice! See ya!” Akira tried to say something, but Ryuji was already gone, leaving him alone in front of the school gates as it began to snow. 

As he watched Ryuji walking off with his track teammates, Akira reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter. The snow was getting heavier, but Akira didn’t care. _It seems all I can do now is wait,_ he thought to himself as he lit a cigarette and stared up at the sky. 

Old habits die hard.

\------

That night, Akira was getting ready for bed when his phone rang. He picked it up, knowing who it was. “What is it?” he asked, screwing the cap back onto his toothpaste. 

“It’s me,” came Akechi’s voice from the other end. “I’ve uncovered quite a lot during my investigation this week. So I’ve decided to share my findings with you.” Akira closed the bathroom door behind him and started up the stairs. Morgana was asleep on the sofa. Seeing him as a human made Akira wanted to get to bed as soon as possible. It only reminded him of Maruki, and what Ryuji had said earlier. _“How do we know each other, anyhow?”_

“By all means.”

Overall, there was little to Akechi’s findings that Akira didn’t already know himself. The only things surprising to him were how the deaths of Kunikazu Okumura and Wakaba Isshiki hadn’t taken place at all in this reality, and Shido alone was arrested on the crime of attempting to overthrow the government. Neither Akechi nor the Phantom Thieves had committed any crimes, and Akechi finished his long spiel of information by asking Akira a question that made him grit his teeth in anger and wonder why he was still helping Akechi in the first place.

“What about you?”

Akira blinked in surprise, forgetting that Akechi couldn’t see him. “What do you mean?” he asked. Akechi sounded irritated. “Don’t tell me you’ve changed your minds after seeing your spineless friends and their perfect lives in Maruki’s reality.” Akira felt his face redden, and hardened his grip on his phone. “Don’t worry about it,” he replied coldly. “I don’t remember asking you about my friends, though.” Akechi sighed. “Whatever. I pray your answer doesn’t change when we face Maruki tomorrow.” With that, he hung up. Annoyed, Akira set his phone down and plugged it in, then sat down on his bed, running his hands through his hair. Suddenly, he heard Morgana speak up from across the room.

“Are you going somewhere tomorrow?” 

Akira looked up at him, wondering when he woke up. “To Odaiba… with Akechi.” he answered. Morgana raised his eyebrows. “With Akechi?” he asked, sounding surprised. “You two seem to be really hitting it off lately.” Akira glared at him. “No, we’re not.” he snapped. “I just have business with him.” Morgana seemed unfazed at Akira’s response. “Huh. I could have sworn you two were closer.” 

Akira scoffed. “I can’t stand that rat bastard,” he grumbled. “But this is important, so I have to do it.” He laid down and pulled the blankets over him, suddenly feeling very tired. Morgana, however, was still talking. “Anyways, remember that stuff you asked me the other day about my happiness?” Akira raised his head, confused. _Why ask this now…?_ Morgana suddenly shook his head and laid back down on the sofa. “Nevermind, it’s nothing…” he murmured. “Good night.” Akira turned over in bed, facing the wall, thinking. Ryuji’s words played over and over in his head. _“How do we know each other, anyhow?_ Akira gripped the blankets and squeezed his eyes shut. _You’ll remember soon, Ryuji._

_I’ll be waiting for you._

**Author's Note:**

> hiiii i know i have another thing i need to update but i love writing angry bad boy akira so much and i wanted to write him having absolutely none of maruki's shit in the third semester  
> i really wanted to make this pegoryu but i also wanted to keep this gen, but it can definitely be read as pegoryu if you want it to be  
> if you enjoyed, please comment/kudos! it really makes me happy knowing people like what i write!  
> thanks for reading! follow me on tumblr (url is grapeflavoredorange!) if you want to hear more of my yelling!


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